It was Aristotle who said, “the family is something that precedes and is more necessary than the state.” Human rights (e.g. the right to marry) are recognised by the state but are not conferred by any state. The family forms by the biological ability to produce children not because the State gives them the right to form a family.

The Church has high expectations for the family, which she calls the “ecclesia domestica”, the domestic church. In the catechism of the Catholic Church, we read “It is in the bosom of the family that parents are, by word and example, the first heralds of the faith for their children. The home is the first school of Christian life and a school for human enrichment” (ccc pars 1656 – 57).

This is an important duty of parents – one which we often neglect. We must realize and accept that the most important duty you owe your children as a Christian is to teach them the faith. Do you know your faith well enough to teach it or did you decide a long time ago to redefine the faith the way you want it to be. Think about what duty to your kids you put first and then ask yourself whether your choice results in you storing up treasure in heaven for yourself and your family or whether you are simply trying to store up more treasure here on earth. Because at the end of the day, the treasure here in this world is worthless.

Cardinal Pell tells us that no parent should fail to teach Christ’s core teachings. Read it here.

“Marriage is a saint-making business. At its most basic, making saints of sinners is what marriage does.

In other words, by God’s grace and with God’s grace, matrimony teaches us fallen, selfish creatures to love without counting the cost. Day in and day out, it calls us to die to ourselves — to give more generously, to sacrifice more heroically and to forgive more readily. It is and has been, for countless men and women, the ordinary path to holiness.”

You absolutely must stay close to Jesus through this love. As you love the way Jesus loved us, it is imperative that hold on tightly to Him. You cannot do this alone but in Him you can do all things. Seek out spiritual guidance if you need it – resist just going to anyone and everyone for advice. The devil – whom you are fighting – not your spouse, wants to confuse you, lie to you, and cause you despair. Supernatural hope in God is necessary and hard self-examination about how you are loving and whether you are really loving your spouse.

Thinking about the array of flowers in nature makes me think about the array of personalities in humans. We are all so different yet so very unique and beautiful. A violet is stunning and blooms at its appointed time in splendor. A rose too, and how charming is a daisy in all its glory. Too often wLiving in the fullness of who you are, whatever that might be, is how you will set the world one worry about why we are not a rose or a lily or a daisy. Or we even think we need to be all of them! We become unsatisfied with who we are. Be who God meant you to be and you will set the world on fire! (St. Catherine of Sienna)

To live in our unique fullness requires a humility and an acceptance and a thankfulness of your little-ness or medium- ness or big-ness. Revel in who you are – in all its goodness – because all of us are uniquely made, in the image of God, with a God given mission to complete for Him. Look for that mission first in your marriage, in your celibacy, in who is around you, in the relationships you are to live out. All of these have significance to God. All of them can be sanctified in living them in Him, through Him and with Him. Then look in your work – be it big work or small work – because God chooses you to do big things in small ways and small things in big ways and small things in small ways and big things in big ways. IT won’t be your doing…it will be His. You won’t even believe it is happening. But first and foremost, you must know you and be thankful for who you are living your life under God’s laws which will have the effect of bringing out in you more than you ever knew could be possible.

Fight off the temptations to exert your will contra your Father in Heaven. Use His Son, Your Saviour to remember that your will can and does sometimes seek the wrong things for yourself or if it is the right thing, we want to make the path to execution our path and not God’s path. Give those desires of your will to Christ in prayer to assist you in discerning how to use them, when to use them, if to use them at all. Surrender all to Him trusting completely, walking around everyday with eyes wide open looking at what your Father is presenting you that day. This is transforming and you will know a sense of awe and wonder in your life giving it meaning in a way that nothing else can.

Read MAtthew 6 beginning at verse 25, Dependence on God, here. Depend on God in all things and your Heavenly Father who loves you, who knows every hair on your head, who knows every thought in your heart, will take care of you in a way a good father should.